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From: ignatz@ihuxx.UUCP (Dave Ihnat, Chicago, IL)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Senator William Proxmire and The Golden Fleece Awards
Message-ID: <795@ihuxx.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 24-Jul-84 13:41:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxx.795
Posted: Tue Jul 24 13:41:57 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jul-84 01:05:43 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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Yes, Sen. Proxmire has been issuing the Golden Fleece awards for items
that he deems wasteful.  The problem is that the Hon. Sen. Proxmire has
displayed a nasty habit of grabbing research projects that sound funny,
but doesn't investigate into the motivations or justifications of the
thing.  It must be admitted that he's been more cautious since the infamous
'centipede' incident.  He 'fleeced' (sorta like being slimed) a researcher
for spending lotsa the taxpayers' $$ on a multi-legged remote-control
mechanical centipede.  Turned out that the lessons in articulation learned
on that project provided major improvements on some artifical limbs, and
the researcher sued the Senator on a number of charges--defamation of
professional character, etc.  I don't know if he lost, or the case could
even be prosecuted (public servant and all that), but Proxmire quieted
down a bit.

While pointing out wasteful, marginally useful grants could be a useful
thing, Proxmire does it for publicity and show value, in an irresponsible
manner.  In addition, he's also strong on PIC, dairy price supports, etc.
In short, it was either Niven or Pournelle who said, in reference to
Proxmire: "Anyone who eats Wisconsin cheese is a traitor to the human race."

	Dave Ihnat
	ihuxx!ignatz